Presentation | Public Speaking Tips

Becoming a “student of the game ” is one of the keys to taking your public speaking and presentation skills to the next level. Getting better requires skill and practice, but learning from others is also a great way to make forward strides as a speaker.

For every conference or event you go to, one of your goals should be to come away with at least one or two new ideas on speaking or slide presentations. And keep in mind that you can often learn as much from an awesome presenter as a horrible or mediocre one.

Things to look for and learn from when watching other speakers (both great and horrible):

What tactics do they use to open the presentation that grabs your attention immediately? Do they have walk-on music with a relevant theme? Do they run on stage and tell a funny story or something that happened to them on the way to the conference? Or do they start off their talk with bullet-point slides describing their 25-year career and then a commercial about their employer or business? Do they hide behind the podium or prowl the stage or even eschew the stage and walk among the audience and in front of the stage?

How do organize their presentation and craft their story/stories? Do they pull you in like a well-written play or movie by creating tensions and conflict from the beginning? Do they then build on that on describing a solution to the problem and then move to “Act III” with the payoff or resolution? Or do they run through a list of 10 Trends or Things Every (Fill in the blank) Must Do; or other approach? There is more than one way to organize a presentation, but pay attention to which approaches work best for the context and type of topic.

What do their slides, if any, look like? Do they use slides and if so do they look professional and use a visual approach? Of do their slides use a template that looks like it is from the 90s and is mostly bulleted text that puts you to sleep after the third slide?

How does the speaker interact with the audience? Do they ask questions of the audience? Get off the sage and interact with audience members? Do they pose rhetorical questions?

How do they use humor? Do they use cat and dog videos, funny images or animated GIFs? Are they like a comedian and able to tell funny stories or one liners? Do they use facial expressions and body language that makes you laugh so hard that you cry? Focus on finding a style of humor that works for you and feels natural.

What kind of content gets tweeted and retweeted? Whether you are actively Tweeting during a session or not, monitor event hashtags and speaker handless to discover what type of content is most frequently Tweeted and re-Tweeted. This not only helps you learn what type of content tends to be share worthy, but more importantly what is simple and resonating with audiences.

What is their pacing like? Does the speaker use a rid-fire approach with 150 slides for a 60-minute talk, a slower-paced style where they might amplify a point or slide with a 3-5 minute story? Or did they vary their cadence with a little of both?

Does the speaker come off as sounding completely scripted or natural, albeit polished and well rehearsed? Does the speaker ad lib and/or do things on an impromptu basis in response to the audience or their own content or foibles.

How they lead up to the end and then close their presentation? Probably the most common failure among inexperienced and experienced speakers alike is to end with a whimper and a thud. Watch how great speakers lead you up to a powerful ending and close that leaves you laughing, crying or at least more informed and wanting to know more. On the other hand, many presenters will be flying along with their presentation and then suddenly, without warning, click to the Q&A/thank you slide.

What do they do after they done speaking? Do they head for the airport, or hangout and answer questions as long as there is a line of people? Do they thank the audiovisual person or run straight to their buddies for kudos? Do they ask the conference host and attendees for feedback – what did you like most, least about the presentation?

Other Sources to Learn From

Watching speakers live at events and conferences is not your only avenue for learning from. Consider these sources as well:

Webinars: Presenting a webinar is a bit different from being on stage in front of an audience, but storytelling, methods of pulling in an audience that is distracted by other things you can’t even see, slide design and beyond are all still key. When you attend webinars for work (or personal interests) watch pay attention to things that presenters do that are effective as well as failures or ineffective styles and approaches.

Study videos from your favorite speakers: If there are a few speakers that you enjoy, visit their website and you will likely find at least a few of their best performances.

Watch TED Talks videos: The easiest way to binge watch speakers is by scouring the TED Talks video web site. I like to watch them when I fly (Delta has a TED Talks channel). Besides seem some interesting approaches to public speaking, you will learn some amazing things on a variety of topics.

Watch and listen to great historical speeches: What makes certain speeches by JFK, Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and others so famous and often cited? Beyond what these and other great orators said and how they delivered it, was the context and timing of their famous speeches. So while your talk on the future of autonomous driving cars may not change the world, watching these and other speeches can help you better understand the importance of both the context and delivery of your presentations.

Blogs and Articles: Start with a search on an area you really want to improve on and then scour the dozens of blogs and thousands of articles on public speaking exist. Here is a Top 20 Presentation and Public Speaking Blogs list assembled in 2014 from La Fabbrica della Realtà .

Because presenting and public speaking is probably not your primary role, you won’t be able to absorb all of the above content. So pick a few things that you enjoy of look forward to. These could be watching TED Talks and famous historical speakers or reading one presentation book per year.

Using a strong quotation in presentations is something that your audience can grab onto, connect with and hopefully want to share with their network and peers. A few good quotations can bring key points in your presentation to life and make your message more impactful and memorable.

Where to find great quotations? There are dozens of online sources for quotations, however, one of the best in my opinion is BrainyQuote. Regardless of what site or sites you end up on when searching for a great quotation, don’t stop at the first one that looks good. Peruse multiple sites and dozens and dozens of quotations until you find the perfect one.

A quotation that you love and think is amazing and perfect could actually be a dud when presented on stage. Here are a few key characteristics to consider when choosing a quotation:

Relevance: The most important consideration is finding a quotation that brings your point to life and isn’t just a convenient quotation from a famous person.

Length: The human brain has to process each letter of text on a slide and so when possible you want to use a quotation that is short, simple and almost jumps off the screen. You also do not want to have to read it off the screen or monitor because it is really long. Visually, a very long quotation looks overwhelming to the audience and they may choose not to read it to themselves – and therefore may not stick in their mind.

Recognizability: Using quotations from widely recognized people will usually resonate with an audience better than someone who is unknown. A quotation from a famous person increases credibility and likelihood that it will be shared on social media.

Simplicity: Choose a simple quotation if possible. While the quotation hopefully will get your audience to think and have an impact, you don’t want them to still be processing the meaning three slides later.

Surprise/”Aha” quotient: Look for quotations that may have a surprise or “aha” element to them. It might be that the words and meaning are unexpected coming from person being quoted. Or perhaps the quotation is counter to common wisdom, is funny or has an obvious “Why didn’t I think of that?” feeling.

Tweetability/Share worthiness: Another reason to use shorter quotations is that they are more easily shared via Twitter and other social channels. A long quotation is not only harder to type for audience members, but it may not even fit within Twitter’s 140-character limit. A Tweetable quote also likely embodies all or many of the above characteristics.

Tips for Presenting Quotes on a Slide

Once you’ve found that amazing quotation, you need to effectively bring it to life on a slide. Here are a few tips to consider:

Use a large font size: The optimum font size will vary based on the length of the quotation, slide format used (4:3 versus 16:9), and if you are using a background image with limited space for text. A good rule of thumb is 36-48 point font for a quotation with an image and a fair amount of room for text. You can use a larger font, such as 54-82 point, if the slide background does not have any images. If the quotation is fairly long and or set on a busier background image, you’ll want to use a font no smaller than about 24 points to ensure it is easily read by everyone in the audience.

Font size for the name of the person quoted: Consider using a font size of 25 percent to 50 percent of the size used for the quotation itself.

Background options – make it easy to read: Keep the slide background simple. White text on a black background or black text on a white background are the two most common, but also most effective approaches. If you use a background image, ensure that there is plenty of room to place the text so that it isn’t competing with the imagery behind it. Imagery frequently used behind text includes nature scenes such as an ocean, a blue sky or clouds, sunrises and sunsets and mountains.

Consider using an image of the person being quoted: An image of the person being quoted can add an additional visual cue for the audience, especially if they are immediately recognizable. This can also be a good approach if you don’t have any appropriate imagery that embodies the quotation.

Attribute the source of the quotation: If you used a quotation website or found the quotation in a blog or article, it is a good practice to include attribution on the slide. You can put the source in a smaller font located at the bottom of the slide, but do include it. If the source of the quotation provides additional credibility or context, such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times or a respected industry publication, you may want to make the attribution more prominent.

Your/Peer Quotations

Some of the best quotations are simply those you’ve thought of yourself or that you’ve borrowed from a friend/family member, co-worker, boss or industry peer. Your own sources can be from articles or blogs you’ve written, wisdom you share with clients or co-workers or those inspirational emails, tweets or comments on someone’s Facebook page.

If something seems to resonate with audiences, jot it down and make it part of your repertoire of sayings. Consider creating a slide deck of your favorite quotations or capturing them in Evernote or similar note-taking app. And don’t forget to enhance your personal quotations with great imagery and use of animation/builds for a more dramatic affect.

The Spoken Quote (Not Included on a Slide)

Of course not every quote you share with the audience will be or deserves to be included on a slide. Some may just pop into your head or may be something you ad lib as you talk about a concept that is the key focus of a slide. In these cases, verbally share the name of the person you are quoting.

Of course, it only makes sense to close this post with a quotation on quotations:

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.

Those were the words of wisdom I got from Jim Sterne, the author of a dozen books on digital marketing and analytics.

It was 2005 and I had finished speaking at a conference in Madison, WI. I did a decent job and felt like I delivered a pretty solid presentation. In retrospect, it was probably about a 6 on a 10 scale – not bad, but also not great.

Following me was Sterne, who had excellent slides, told great stories and kept the audience highly engaged in his topic. He was simply impressive as a speaker.

His performance made me realize how far I had to travel to become a really good or great speaker. I had started to average about a dozen presentations per year, but was still trying to find my speaker mojo and hone my style and approach.

When Jim came off stage I asked him what his secret was. “You just have to be passionate about your topic.” His advice was simple and brilliant.

His point was that if you are passionate about the subject you are speaking on, the audience can see it and feel it. You ooze enthusiasm for your subject, bringing your slides to life with your voice, body language and the stories you tell.

So how do you convey a high level of passion to your audience? Following are my suggestions to maximum confidence and ooze with passion:

Preparation:Minimize any last minute issues, such as struggling to find the room you are speaking in, realizing there is no presentation remote or lavalier microphone or finding out there is no room to move around on the stage. To ooze passion on stage, you need to be relaxed, confident and focused. If your thinking about the fact that your slides look faded on the screen or there is a delay with your presentation remote, those and other “surprises” will detract from ability to command the stage and audience.

Topic: It all starts with your topic. Never submit a proposal or agree to speak on a topic that you don’t have expertise about and stories to share. If you are an expert on the topic, even if your slides are not great you can ad lib, tell stories and wow the audience. If, however, you are relying on someone else’s slides, or the topic is either uninteresting or you lack deep knowledge – then you will not be able to deliver that deep passion required to inform and entertain the audience. They too will see it in your eyes and body language, as well as your pacing and the tone of your voice.

Practice/Rehearsal: Build your confidence by practicing your presentation multiple times – whether in your head on the plane to the event, in your hotel room in front of a mirror or by actually presenting on stage. That additional confidence then enables you to be more relaxed, increase your comfort with your slides and enables you to ad lib more or just put additional energy into your delivery.

Rehearsing or multiple times delivering a presentation uncovers weak points in your slides that you can then remove, revise or learn to improvise around.

Have great openings: If you can grab the audience from the moment you walk on stage, you get them on your side and listening to every word you utter. Use whatever tricks you are comfortable with that gives you confidence from the start and makes audience members put down their smartphones. You want them to know from the start that you are a speaker they need to pay attention to.

Have a few “go to” stories: If possible, every presentation you deliver should have a couple of “go to” stories that you can rely on. These are your versions of the Rolling Stones performing “Satisfaction” or Bruce Springsteen delivering “Born to Run.” They are your tried and true stories that are both crowd pleasers, but you are able to strut your stuff with great energy, confidence, “color” and passion.

Slides that don’t suck: Your slides are probably the least important element of conveying passion, but crappy slides, such as those with lots of or unreadable text, poor quality images or poor layout can detract. If the audience is mumbling to themselves about the poor quality of your slides, you will struggle to get their full attention. Make sure your slides are simple and image-focused so that the audience is focused on you and your words and insight, rather than struggling to read the content on your slides.

Body language: Don’t stand behind the podium. Ever.* Don’t stand behind a podium, instead roam around the stage and use physical movement and body language to convey your passion about the topic or put an explanation point on specific aspects of your presentation. (*The only exception is when the only microphone available is one affixed to the podium.)

Bring the energy: Even if you are shy, find your inner rock star and yell, laugh, sing, vary your cadence and volume, run around the stage or into the audience or do whatever you can to get the audience’s attention. Bring energy to the stage and the audience will reciprocate by ignoring their smartphones and give you their full attention.

Engage the audience: Show your passion for a topic by getting the audience involved so that you are in essence transferring your passion to them. Ask the audience questions, go into the crowd or just show your empathy for the audience though your slides and stories. When the audience feels that you understand their pains and challenges they will more likely to jump on board the train and adventure you are taking them on.

Use whatever techniques work for you to build your confidence and convey passion when you speak. If you don’t bring the passion to the stage, don’t expect your audience to go “wow.”

For most speakers, the process of staring at PowerPoint slides on your computer is not going to generate your “aha” ideas, those concepts that get both you and your audience excited, surprised or motivated to take some action. In fact, for most people, their best ideas tend to flow when they are either physically or mentally far away from a computer and slides.

If you ask people, “When are you most creative, when do you come up with your best ideas?”, the response is typically one or more of the following:

What all of the above have in common is varying degrees of isolation. Many involve wearing headphones, blocking interruptions from the outside world and listening to music, the radio or podcasts.

In a car, airplane or even in the shower there is a sense of physical separation from the outside world. Obviously, if you are driving a car, there is significant element of concentration on the road and other cars that is required, but the outside world is mostly blocked out.

But does being isolated at varying degrees suddenly make ideas just pop into your head? For most people, the answer is no. There is still the need for some external stimulation or existing concepts that trigger your new ideas.

The key for you as a speaker is to find what works for you, what is your “go to” process for generating those great ideas and concepts that can then create those “aha” moments that bring your slides and presentation to life.

One of my personal current processes is to go the gym, get on the treadmill or bike and listen to a Freakanomics podcast. The combination of earbuds, sound and walking on a treadmill or pedaling give me the first part of the equation, which is a some semblance of isolation and blocking out interruptions and interference.

So how do you bring it all together? What does a successful idea generation process look like. Here is my 6-step framework:

1. Isolation:Put on those headphones, go for a walk and try to block out distractions from the outside world. Your goal is not to have zero external sensory interruptions, but keep the ones you do have to a minimum. They should actually help, rather than distract, from the ideation process.

Pick your poison. Seek out content outlets that you love, find inspiring and make them part of your go-to sources of inspiration. But also try varying your sources if you can so that you are getting different viewpoints and angles. Don’t just take in content within your field, as you will find that your best ideas will come from outside of your domain.

3. Capture:I’m a huge fan of Evernote, but it doesn’t matter whether you use a note-taking app, dictate your ideas or write them down on the back of an envelope or note pad. And don’t worry about spelling or perfect sentences, just make sure you get the essence of the ideas written down somewhere so you don’t forget them.

4. Ideation & Convolution: With notes and raw inspiration in hand, now comes the step of turning the rough idea(s) into your big “aha” concept. Play with the ideas, noodle them, throw them against the wall, and combine them together to create your breakthrough ideas. This process can happen quickly, but usually it requires time and is better realized by stepping away and iterating on your original inspiration.

Making the cross-connection requires a certain daring. It must, for any cross-connection that does not require daring is performed at once by many and develops not as a “new idea,” but as a mere “corollary of an old idea.” – Isaac Asimov

5. Creation & Delivery: Now that you’ve ideated the core concept you want to convey on stage, you need to determine how you will deliver it to the audience? Will you present the idea through images, quotes, video clips, personal stories, real-world examples, audience involvement, body language or a combination of these? Regardless of which approach(es) you use, your main focus should not be what’s on the screen, but what you say about your slide(s).

6. Learn & Improve: Do some reflection after your presentation and ask audience members for feedback. See what aspects of your presentation they liked or that inspired them. If no one mentions your breakthrough idea, then either the idea didn’t achieve the “aha” status or there may have been a problem with your delivery.

Ask follow-up questions and specifically about your key ideas. Read the post-event survey and see if the audience members specifically say things like: “I loved when Mary talked about ….” For future presentations, experiment with some tweaks and different approaches until you feel you’ve nailed it.

What are the keys to your idea generation process? Please take my short 5-question survey and I’ll share the results in a future blog post. Thanks!